Admission for children of divorced women, widows become easier under RTE Act

The Education Department of Maharashtra has taken measures to ease the admission process for children of divorced women and widows. The admissions within the 25 percent reserved seats under the Right to Education Act for this purpose will be made easier.

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Special provisions have been announced by the government during the application process for divorced women, women going through divorce proceedings, and widows, by producing respective certificates.

Earlier, there was no clarity on the matter and women were forced to produce certificates of their separated or estranged husband. Now, we have issued clear guidelines to make it easier for single women to admit their children under the RTE quota.

The government rule released, to bring changes in the existing application process, has clearly stated guidelines for specially-abled children and orphans under the RTE quota.

Steps are being taken to ensure that no repetitions occur during the admission process. Earlier, the allotments took place as per the candidate which led to a single candidate getting multiple schools. To rectify this, allotments will now take place school-wise to ensure repetitions do not occur.

Each candidate will be allotted one school, as per the government rule, for which they will have to send confirmation. If no confirmation is made, the candidate stands to lose the seat reserved for them under the RTE Act.

The government has also put a cap on the number of schools a candidate can apply to. Hence, the responsibility will now be on the parent to select the appropriate schools during application.

Last year, changes had been made to ensure that a father's certificate is not needed to avail the 25 percent quota. While speaking with The Times of India, an education department official had earlier said,

India is a patriarchal society and it is hard for many to accept the mother's document when it comes to authorising if a child is eligible for admissions under RTE. The concept of single mothers is yet to be accepted by the society. But this needs to change.

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